PC market shrank another 7 to 9 %

The worldwide market for personal computerss keeps
shrinking, for the sixth quarter in a row. Only the top 2, Lenovo and HP, managed
to grow somewhat.

Pupils prefer tablets

PC manufacturers generally rely on the third quarter, as plenty of pupils go out and buy a PC
for the start of the new school year. Nevertheless, sales slumped again: market research firm IDC believes sales were 7.6 % lower than the same quarter
last year; Gartner predicts an even higher drop at 8.6%, as a large
percentage of pupils preferred a tablet over a computer.

It is the sixth consecutive quarter with dropping sales: Q3 2013 has been the weakest since 2008, with only 87.8 million PC’s sold. Especially the European,
Middle Eastern and African sales have been in a free-fall: -13.7%. The United States (+3.5 %) and Asia/Pacific
(+11.2 %) are the only two regions which have had some growth.

The current numbers one and two,
Lenovo and HP, have been the only triumphant parties in this shrinking
market. Lenovo, the Chinese company that bought IBM’s PC department in 2005,
was responsible for 17.6% of all sales, almost a 1% increase over last quarter.
American HP had to give Lenovo the lead earlier this year, but also managed to
push through more sales, taking a market share of 17.1 %, coming from 16.3 %.

Ceconomy will create uniformity between Media Markt and Saturn’s online and offline pricing. This will be possible thanks to the digital price tags it now uses in the stores, because there can be altered in real-time.

There has been yet another thorough shake-up among Fnac Darty’s shareholders. The merger company, which owns Belgian electronics chain Vanden Borre and Dutch retailer BCC, will now welcome insurance company SFAM, after it bought investment fund Knight Vinke’s shares.